MS-MPE Student Feature: Varun Shilesh
I recently had the opportunity to speak with MS-MPE student Varun Shilesh to learn more about his co-op experience with ZOLL Medical Corporation.
Varun has always had an interest in working with medical devices. While he was pursuing his bachelors in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering from the RN Shetty Institute of Technology in Bangalore, India, Varun worked on a variety of projects in the healthcare technology space. Varun explained, “There are a lot of great lifesaving technologies that exist; however, these technologies are extremely expensive and hence are lacking in India and other developing countries.” A project that was instrumental in Varun choosing this profession was a walking stick for the visually impaired. While the technology was not novel, he and his peers wanted to make this type of technology as cost effective as possible. Other projects he worked on during this time included AI technology for detecting breast cancer, a discrete wearable safety device for women, and posture correction device for infants. Through these projects, Varun developed a passion for testing the user experience of devices and the human interactions that take place around them. He found gathering user feedback and using it to make the devices better an extremely rewarding process. “At the time I knew I enjoyed what I was doing but did not know what it was called. I now know that I found a passion in human factors engineering work.”
Upon graduating with his bachelor’s degree, Varun began looking for Bioengineering master's programs with a focus in medical device design. He began the MS-MPE program in Fall 2022. During his second semester in the program, Varun enrolled in the Human Factors Engineering for Medical Devices course. In this course, students learn how to apply human factors concept to medical device development processes. As the course progressed, he was reassured that this was the career path that he wanted to pursue. By the middle of the semester, Varun was applying to internships and co-op opportunities within the human factors field. During this time, he was also able to connect with ZOLL Cardiac Management Solutions (CMS) at the spring career fair. The connection that he made led to an interview for the human factors co-op position with the company. After a few rounds of interviews, Varun was offered a co-op position with the ZOLL CMS Human factors team.
During his time with ZOLL, Varun was extensively involved with many different projects. He authored several study protocols and HF reports. One of these projects included completing right to left language and iconography research. This type of research involves finding information on languages that are read from right to left and how that influences how icons, letters, and numbers are interpreted by the user. Implementation of right to left research would allow for the company to expand their products into different markets. Another project included summative testing of a cardiac monitoring device. Varun was able to see how this type of testing was conducted. “While it may seem easy to someone who is not familiar with the process, it can actually be very difficult and nuanced because the slightest change in emotion or body language can influence the participant. Asking the right question at the right time is imperative to obtain valuable insights into the product’s user experience.” Varun was involved with the root cause analysis of these studies. He was also involved in a project streamlining the clinical IRB workflows to better align with the human factors team needs.
“The program at Pitt allowed me to have a huge head start when I started the co-op. I was already familiar with guidance documents and terminologies in human factors, which was a major benefit. I was able to focus less on theoretical learning and more about the practical side of the field.” One of Varun’s favorite parts of his co-op experience was how open the team was to his ideas and input. He was given the freedom to conduct the research that he wanted to do and report back to the team. He noted that the team he worked with was very receptive to the information he provided. “I felt like I was making an impact.”
This Fall, Varun will be completing his MS-MPE degree. His experience with ZOLL has further reinforced his interest in pursuing a career in human factors upon graduation. “I really enjoy understanding and being able to connect with users and then translating that information into technical language for engineering teams to understand so they can improve the product experience.”
Varun’s advice to those interested in pursuing a career in human factors is, “If you feel passionate about understanding user needs and pain points do not shy away from human factors just because it is a niche field. It is extremely rewarding to know that design inputs and changes made can end up saving an individual’s life. It allows you to make a real-world impact.”
Check out Varun’s LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varun-shilesh-a36762166/